Founder shadcnblocks.com 7yrs building component libraries & templates Prev Design Engineer @ Autodesk, Stackbit, Relume
Brisbane, Australia
- Tweets 3,819
- Following 373
- Followers 2,955
- Likes 2,468
I don’t think Figma is outdated. I think the old idea of designing everything in Figma, handing it off, then starting development is outdated.
The better workflow is being able to move between Figma and code.
That becomes much easier when you understand design systems, naming conventions, colour tokens, typography, spacing, components and how those same decisions translate into code.
For web, I like systems that already exist on both sides. shadcn is a good example. I can use the components in Figma, then import the actual components in code and style them based on the design instead of asking AI to recreate everything from scratch.
You can even mirror your Figma tokens with CSS variables so colours, radius, spacing and other decisions stay consistent globally.
Knowing HTML and CSS also means that when I see a complex layout, I already have a rough idea of how it should be built. Sometimes it’s faster to design or adjust it myself than spend 20 prompts telling AI to move a div around.
I still use AI heavily, especially for things like GSAP and more complex motion where I’m still building depth.
Figma isn’t dead.
The rigid handoff between design and code is.
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Template creators are rage-quitting Framer because Marketplace 3.0 tanked their sales.
Posting tearful goodbyes on X. Blaming the algorithm. Calling it quits.
But here's the kicker: they're leaving their templates up to keep collecting affiliate checks.
So you're not really quitting, are you?
Look, I get it. Sales dropped 70-80% overnight. That hurts.
But let's be real about what happened here.
These creators never built distribution. They rented it from Framer.
Marketplace 2.0 gave them free traffic. They made good templates. Some pulled multiple six figures. Amazing!
But the second the free tap turned off? Panic.
I was there in 2021-2022. Early beta. Built templates. Made multiple six figures doing it.
The difference? I built a personal brand. A newsletter. Grew my following. Every launch hit my own list of thousands, not just the marketplace feed.
Marketplace sales were always a bonus. Never the foundation.
That's why when I started Trueform, I knew exactly how to play the game. Same tactics. Different business. Built it to over a million.
Because I understood distribution from day one.
Now here's what's funny.
Marketplace 3.0 + Framer Skills + AI is about to unlock a whole new category of templates.
The opportunity is bigger than ever.
But everyone's leaving right when it's getting hard and interesting.
AI can help anyone build anything now. Tools are democratized.
What you can't build overnight? Real distribution.
That's always been the difference between renting an audience and owning one.
So if you're building in the Framer ecosystem: build your own channels. Your newsletter. Your following. Your voice.
Because platforms change. Algorithms shift. Marketplaces evolve.
But distribution you own?
That's yours forever.
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Am rebuilding my store as we speak Lol
But would be framer.com/marketplace/templ…
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Rob Austin retweeted
Template creators are rage-quitting Framer because Marketplace 3.0 tanked their sales.
Posting tearful goodbyes on X. Blaming the algorithm. Calling it quits.
But here's the kicker: they're leaving their templates up to keep collecting affiliate checks.
So you're not really quitting, are you?
Look, I get it. Sales dropped 70-80% overnight. That hurts.
But let's be real about what happened here.
These creators never built distribution. They rented it from Framer.
Marketplace 2.0 gave them free traffic. They made good templates. Some pulled multiple six figures. Amazing!
But the second the free tap turned off? Panic.
I was there in 2021-2022. Early beta. Built templates. Made multiple six figures doing it.
The difference? I built a personal brand. A newsletter. Grew my following. Every launch hit my own list of thousands, not just the marketplace feed.
Marketplace sales were always a bonus. Never the foundation.
That's why when I started Trueform, I knew exactly how to play the game. Same tactics. Different business. Built it to over a million.
Because I understood distribution from day one.
Now here's what's funny.
Marketplace 3.0 + Framer Skills + AI is about to unlock a whole new category of templates.
The opportunity is bigger than ever.
But everyone's leaving right when it's getting hard and interesting.
AI can help anyone build anything now. Tools are democratized.
What you can't build overnight? Real distribution.
That's always been the difference between renting an audience and owning one.
So if you're building in the Framer ecosystem: build your own channels. Your newsletter. Your following. Your voice.
Because platforms change. Algorithms shift. Marketplaces evolve.
But distribution you own?
That's yours forever.
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I'm not looking for another Marketplace, there is a big one already coming from Framer itself. 🤣
But appreciate it!
I own my distribution, not going to change that!
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Maybe my original pitch was a bit off. It’s not really like the Framer Marketplace.
Built At Lightspeed is a directory where you can list your Framer templates. We don’t take a cut or commission.
The listings link directly to your own site, you handle your own sales, and you get referral traffic + an SEO link back to your site.
From my perspective as a template creator doing $1M+ ARR. Marketplaces, directories and galleries are a significant part of my distribution. In fact they are critical.
Owning your distribution doesn’t mean ignoring external distribution.
I hope you will give it a try Cedric. I think its only upside. 🤞
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Mulberry, an accounting theme for Astro & Tailwind CSS
It's built for CPAs, finance firms and advisors who needs to look credible from day 1. It includes services, industries, case studies, team profiles and blog and more.
Available in Astro, Sanity CMS, EmDash CMS. And of course MCP, so your AI agent can pull Mulberry's sections, design and setup.
lexingtonthemes.com/template…
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72 hours of designeer.xyz
- 32k unique visitors from 164 countries
- #1 on Google when you search for 'Designeer'
- ~350k impressions on X from all the posts about Designeer
- 50+ emails & DMs asking to get their websites listed on Designeer
Got a very positive response so far and will be working on improving it even more.
(˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶) ‹𝟹
Designeer is open for Sponsorships :)
Bringing the best of the internet together.
Introducing designeer.xyz
A curated place to discover exceptional interface craft, design systems, component libraries, AI tools, inspiration and design engineers worth learning from.
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Some of the biggest Framer template creators are dropping out of the marketplace.
If you sell Framer templates, the time is now to diversify and create your own site, sell your own templates and increase your distribution through other marketplaces and directories.
After a lot of thought, I've decided to step away from Framer templates.
I wanted to give it as much time as possible, but despite the changes, things have never recovered since the new marketplace.
Template sales have dropped by over 70% (-$30,000/m) and is getting worse month on month and as we've seen on X over the last few months, the alignment with the creators has shifted too.
So I've had to make the decision to move on.
It's a sad way to end after 3 years, especially considering how creator-centric Framer were, but that's business.
Stay tuned.
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Added Soni builtatlightspeed.com/theme/…
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We've been pushing hard for the last couple of months. If nothing improves, we'll move on too.
Honestly, I don't see much chance of things getting better.
After a lot of thought, I've decided to step away from Framer templates.
I wanted to give it as much time as possible, but despite the changes, things have never recovered since the new marketplace.
Template sales have dropped by over 70% (-$30,000/m) and is getting worse month on month and as we've seen on X over the last few months, the alignment with the creators has shifted too.
So I've had to make the decision to move on.
It's a sad way to end after 3 years, especially considering how creator-centric Framer were, but that's business.
Stay tuned.
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Yes I just relaunched Built At Lightspeed builtatlightspeed.com/
Its a 4 year old DR 60 domain, and now you can add and edit your own listings.
For nextjs and astro I also recommend
nextjsthemes.dev
nexttemplates.dev
astro.build/themes/
astrothemes.dev
There are many others. An entire ecosystem of directories promoting these platforms
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TD_Signal is now live in the @framer marketplace.
framer.com/marketplace/templ…
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Added it to Built At Lightspeed builtatlightspeed.com/theme/…
Because you had a dedicated URL for every template on your own site, it literrally took me 1 minute to add it. Good job!
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State of Framer.
After a lot of thought, I've decided to step away from Framer templates.
I wanted to give it as much time as possible, but despite the changes, things have never recovered since the new marketplace.
Template sales have dropped by over 70% (-$30,000/m) and is getting worse month on month and as we've seen on X over the last few months, the alignment with the creators has shifted too.
So I've had to make the decision to move on.
It's a sad way to end after 3 years, especially considering how creator-centric Framer were, but that's business.
Stay tuned.
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Because he has his own website and has some control over his own distribution he can pivot, he can endure.
Its only over if the marketplace was your only funnel.
Its really not hard to understand.
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80% of the template creators who liked this post don't have their own sites with their templates displayed on individual urls.
The internet can't promote that...
Do you understand how many marketplaces, directories and affiliates are looking to promote new templates?
But they need the basics, a template page and URL's for each template.
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Hamza got his own site for your information sir, even myself, i have a full built website but i m not releasing it since it doesn't help,
Just designers should go back to client work or build other stuff but templates are over
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Most Framer template creators just don’t get it.
So many don’t even have their own website. And the ones that do often don’t have individual pages for each template.
It’s not hard. Build a templates page. Give every template its own URL.
Now you have SEO potential, affiliate potential, you can submit to other marketplaces and directories with a permalink you control...
The entire template business outside the Framer Marketplace already understands this model.
Get on it people. The Framer marketplace change were a wake up call.
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Here’s the first template business I built, over 7 years ago: zerostatic.io/
It has a templates page, with individual URLs for every template.
7 years later, I have literally thousands of backlinks from all over the internet: GitHub, directories, Google, AI recommendations, etc.
And they all point to URLs I control.
I can improve those pages, update them, redirect them, or send that traffic wherever I want.
I haven’t seriously worked on the site in 2 years, and it still makes sales.
This is the basic model for building a template business. You own the site. You own the URLs. You own the traffic.
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